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CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Annual Report”) relating to plans, strategies, economic performance and trends, projections of results of specific activities or investments and other statements that are not descriptions of historical facts may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking information is inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors, which include, but are not limited to, factors discussed under the captions “Business — General — Allowance for LoanCredit Losses” and “Business — General — Market Area and Competition” in Item 1 below, “Risk Factors” in Item 1A below, in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Overview” in Item 7 below, and elsewhere in this Annual Report and in other documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Forward-looking statements may be identified by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “expects,” “plans,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,”, “goals”, “forecasts,” “potential” or “continue” or similar terms or the negative of these terms. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. We have no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

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PART I

As used in this Report, the words “we,” “us,” “our” and the “Company” are used to refer to Flushing Financial Corporation (the “Holding Company”) and its direct and indirect wholly owned subsidiaries, Flushing Bank (the “Bank”), Flushing Service Corporation, FSB Properties Inc., and Flushing Preferred Funding Corporation, Flushing Service Corporation, and FSB Properties Inc.which was dissolved as of June 30, 2021.

Item 1.    Business.

GENERAL

Overview

The Holding Company is a Delaware corporation organized in 1994. The Bank was organized in 1929 as a New York State-chartered mutual savings bank. Today the Bank operates as a full-service New York State commercial bank. Our primary business is the operation of the Bank. The Bank ownsowned three subsidiaries:subsidiaries during all or a portion of 2021: Flushing Service Corporation, FSB Properties Inc., and Flushing Preferred Funding Corporation, Flushing Service Corporation, and FSB Properties Inc. which was dissolved as of June 30, 2021. The Bank also operates an internet branch (the “Internet Branch”), which operates under the brands of iGObanking.com® and BankPurely®. The activities of the Holding Company are primarily funded by dividends, if any, received from the Bank, issuances of subordinated debt and junior subordinated debt, and issuances of equity securities. The Holding Company’s common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “FFIC.”

The Holding Company also owns Flushing Financial Capital Trust II, Flushing Financial Capital Trust III, and Flushing Financial Capital Trust IV (the “Trusts”), which are special purpose business trusts formed to issue a total of $60.0 million of capital securities and $1.9 million of common securities (which are the only voting securities). The Holding Company owns 100% of the common securities of the Trusts. The Trusts used the proceeds from the issuance of these securities to purchase junior subordinated debentures from the Holding Company. The Trusts are not included in our consolidated financial statements as we would not absorb the losses of the Trusts if losses were to occur.

Unless otherwise disclosed, the information presented in this Annual Report reflects the financial condition and results of operations of the Company. Management views the Company as operating a single unit – a community bank. Therefore, segment information is not provided. At December 31, 2018,2021, the Company had total assets of $6.8$8.0 billion, deposits of $5.0$6.3 billion and stockholders’ equity of $549.5 million.$0.7 billion.

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On October 30, 2020, the Company completed its acquisition of Empire Bancorp, Inc. (“Empire”), in a transaction valued at $87.5 million upon closing, all outstanding shares of Empire voting and non-voting common stock were exchanged for consideration consisting of $54.8 million in cash and 2,557,028 shares of Holding Company common stock. Goodwill of $1.5 million was recorded as a result of the Empire acquisition. Under the terms of the merger agreement, each share of Empire common stock was exchanged for either 0.6548 shares of the Company’s common stock or $14.04 in cash, based upon the election of each Empire shareholder, subject to the election and proration procedures specified in the merger agreement (which provided for an aggregate split of total consideration of 50% Company common stock and 50% cash). In connection with the transaction, Empire National Bank (“Empire Bank”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Empire, merged with and into the Bank, with the Bank as the surviving entity.

Our principal business is attracting retail deposits from the general public and investing those deposits together with funds generated from ongoing operations and borrowings, primarily in (1) originations and purchases of multi-family residential properties loans, commercial business loans, commercial real estate mortgage loans and, to a lesser extent, one-to-four family loans (focusing on mixed-use properties, which are properties that contain both residential dwelling units and commercial units); (2) construction loans; (3) Small Business Administration (“SBA”) loans; (4) mortgage loan surrogates such as mortgage-backed securities; and (5) U.S. government securities, corporate fixed-income securities and other marketable securities. We also originate certain other consumer loans including overdraft lines of credit. At December 31, 2018,2021, we had gross loans outstanding of $5,536.3$6,633.9 million (before the allowance for loancredit losses and net deferred costs), with gross mortgage loans totaling $4,638.8$5,200.8 million, or 83.8%78.4% of gross loans, and non-mortgage loans totaling $897.5$1,433.1 million, or 16.2%21.6% of gross loans. Mortgage loans are primarily multi-family, commercial and one-to-four family mixed-use properties, which totaled 79.3%represent 73.3% of gross loans. Our revenues are derived principally from interest on our mortgage and other loans, andour mortgage-backed securities portfolio, and interest and dividends on other investments in our securities portfolio. Our primary sources of funds are deposits, Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (“FHLB-NY”) borrowings, principal and interest payments on loans, mortgage-backed, other securities and to a lesser extent proceeds from sales of securities and loans. The Bank’s primary regulator is the New York State Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS”), and its primary federal regulator is the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”). Deposits are insured to the maximum allowable amount by the FDIC. Additionally, the Bank is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) system.

Our operating results are significantly affected by changes in interest rates as well as national and local economic conditions, including the strength of the local economy. The outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) pandemic has adversely impacted a broad range of industries in which the Company’s customers operate and impaired to some extent the ability of some customers to fulfill their financial obligations to the Company. The spread of the outbreak has caused significant disruptions in the U.S. economy and has disrupted banking and other financial activity in the areas in which the Company operates.

On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act was signed into law in response to the coronavirus pandemic. This legislation provided relief for individuals and businesses negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. On December 27, 2020, the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act (“CAA”) was signed into law, providing for, among other things, further suspension of the exception for loan modifications to not be classified as “troubled debt restructuring” (“TDR”) if certain criteria are met, as described below.

The CARES Act, as amended, includes provisions for the Company to temporarily opt out of applying the TDR accounting guidance in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 310-40 for certain loan modifications. Loan modifications have been eligible for this relief if the related loans were not more than 30 days past due as of December 31, 2019. The Bank adopted this provision and at December 31, 2021, we had 20 active forbearances for loans with an aggregate outstanding loan balance of approximately $71.9 million.

According to the New York Department of Labor, the unemployment rate for the New York City region improveddecreased to 4.0%8.8% at December 20182021 from 4.3%12.0% at December 2017. In this economic environment, we continued2020. Although, the unemployment rate improved year-over-year, the rate is still elevated compared to experience improvements in our non-performing loans.many parts of the United States, primarily resulting from the increased impact COVID-19 had on the New York City metropolitan area. Non-performing loans totaled $16.3$14.9 million, $18.1$21.1 million, and $21.4$13.3 million at December 31, 2018, 20172021, 2020, and 2016,2019, respectively. We had net recoveriescharge-offs of impaired loans in 20182021 totaling $19,000$3.1 million compared to net charge-offs$3.6 million and $2.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2020, and 2019, respectively.

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Lending Activities

Loan Portfolio Composition. Our loan portfolio consists primarily of mortgage loans secured by multi-family residential, commercial real estate, one-to-four family mixed-use property, one-to-four family residential property, and commercial business loans. In addition, we also offer construction loans, SBA loans and other consumer loans. Substantially allThe vast majority of our mortgage loans are secured by properties located within our market area. At December 31, 2018,2021, we had gross loans outstanding of $5,536.3$6,633.9 million (before the allowance for loancredit losses and net deferred costs).

We have focused our loan origination efforts on multi-family residential mortgage loans, commercial real estate and commercial business loans with full banking relationships. All of these loan types generally have higher yields than one-to-four family residential properties, and include prepayment penalties that we collect if the loans pay in full prior to the contractual maturity. We expect to continue this emphasis through marketing and by maintaining competitive interest rates and origination fees. Our marketing efforts include frequent contact with mortgage brokers and other professionals who serve as referral sources.

Fully underwritten one-to-four family residential mortgage loans generally are considered by the banking industry to have less risk than other types of loans. Multi-family residential, commercial real estate and one-to-four family mixed-use property mortgage loans generally have higher yields than one-to-four family residential property mortgage loans and shorter terms to maturity, but typically involve higher principal amounts and may expose the lender to a greater risk of credit loss than one-to-four family residential property mortgage loans. The greater risk associated with multi-family residential, commercial real estate and one-to-four family mixed-use property mortgage loans could require us to increase our provisions for loancredit losses and to maintain an allowance for loancredit losses as a percentage of total loans in excess of the allowance we currently maintain. We continually review the composition of our mortgage loan portfolio to manage the risk in the portfolio. See “General – Overview” in this Item 1 of this Annual Report.

Our loan portfolio consists of adjustable rate mortgage (“ARM”) loans and fixed-rate mortgage loans. Interest rates we charge on loans are affected primarily by the demand for such loans, the supply of money available for lending purposes, the rate offered by our competitors and the creditworthiness of the borrower. Many of those factors are, in turn, affected by local and national economic conditions, and the fiscal, monetary and tax policies of the federal, state and local governments.

In general, consumers show a preference for ARM loans in periods of high interest rates and for fixed-rate loans when interest rates are low. In periods of declining interest rates, we may experience refinancing activity in ARM loans, as borrowers show a preference to lock-in the lower rates available on fixed-rate loans. In the case of ARM loans we originated, volume and adjustment periods are affected by the interest rates and other market factors as discussed above as well as consumer preferences. We have not in the past, nor do we currently, originate ARM loans that provide for negative amortization.

The majority of our commercial business loans are generated by the Company’s business banking group which focuses on loan and deposit relationships to businesses located within our market area. These loans are generally personally guaranteed by the owners, and may be secured by the assets of the business, which at times may include real estate. The interest rate on these loans isare generally an adjustable rate based on a published index. These loans, while providing us a higher rate of return, also present a higher level of risk. The greater risk associated with commercial business loans could require us to increase our provision for loancredit losses, and to maintain an allowance for loancredit losses as a percentage of total loans in excess of the allowance we currently maintain.

At times, we may purchase whole or participations in loans from banks, mortgage bankers and other financial institutions when the loans complement our loan portfolio strategy. Loans purchased must meet our underwriting standards when they were originated. Our lending activities are subject to federal and state laws and regulations. See “— Regulation.”